Charles Anderson talks to John Sonmez, the author of Soft Skills—“the software developer’s life manual.” They start out discussing the book and what it covers, which is pretty much everything in a developer’s life outside of code. The book contains seven sections; they discuss two of them: “Career” and “Marketing Yourself.”

John discusses the value of specializing in your career without being overspecialized. He describes how to “hack the interview process” to either reduce the need for an interview or build a strong relationship before the interview.

He then discusses how software developers can market themselves to achieve career goals. His recommendations include blogging, attending user groups, and presenting at conferences. Although most of his recommendations are intended for long-term results, he also discusses what to do in the short term for someone who needs to find a job quickly.

iTunes Show Notes: Charles Anderson talks to John Sonmez, the author of Soft Skills—“the software developer’s life manual.” John discusses the value of specializing in your career without being overspecialized, how to “hack the interview process,” and much more.

I haven’t read the John’s book, and after listening to the podcast and reading few transcripts of his videos I am very sceptical.

It seems like John is an expert in everything and can give advice on each aspect of human existance. I think this is not uncommon among self apointed gurus. John talks like his opinion is scientifically proven fact where it sounds more like a result of a short browsing session and a moment of thinking.

John mentions in the podcast that he only works on Fridays and later on he mentions working more often. Things like this always put me off.

Having said that, John makes some very points and his advice in this podcast often makes a lot of sense.
However, this advice would fit into few blog posts or maybe a small self published book 😉 There is just not enough advice for 52 blogs a year. Sooner or later John will write a blog post about using a mouse vs a touchpad.

Maybe it’s just me but after hearing this episode I actually went to his site and subscribed to his course on How to start a blog.
The result? I actually started a blog (https://codecleaners.wordpress.com), have tons of ideas and write a blog every two days.
Not sure if he is just collecting information form sites and re-proposing it or if he is an actual guru on lots of aspects, but I find what he says valuable and it has helped mi a lot.

I’ve heard criticisms of John before – mostly that he’s “slick” or always selling. I see where people get that. I’m listening to his book on my commute, and I find his questions at least as powerful as his suggestions. One thing I know for sure is that since working on his email blogging course, I’ve been way more motivated and I write more.

Very interesting, thought provocative podcast, worth listening by IT professionals at all levels.
Couldn’t agree more with IT folks not seeing marketing themselves as a priority and expecting the world to find them and give them their next job just because [they think] they are good! They don’t seem to pay attention to planning a well balanced life including personal finance, health and overall well being, instead just focusing on day to day work! I myself had been a victim of this for a long time! Networking doesn’t seem to be their priority, nor building a brand well before they are in a job market. I echo the sentiment of building a brand and selling yourself right, can even help skip an interview in many cases and be in a better position to negotiate your remuneration!
Recommendation on blogging, attending user groups, and presenting at conferences go a long way as well. I can also see this helping managers to have a better discussion with their subordinates through out the year instead of the annual ritual a.k.a performance evaluation.
Do you ever discuss ‘things not directly related to work’ with your employees?

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